Grip for golf clubs



June 22, 1937.

A. PARDOE GRIP FOR GULF CLUBS Filed Dec. 17, 1934 infer/tor. Iver/1 Para 06.

A I 7w Patented June 22, 1937 UNITED'STATES PATENT OFFICE GRIP FOR GOLF CLUBS Avern Pardoe, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as-

signor to Edna H. Pardoe, Toronto, Ontario,

v Canada Application December 17, 1934, Serial No. 757,796

4 Claims.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide a grip for golf clubs which will fit naturally into the curved recesses of the hand when closed around the same, thereby ensuring an unrestrained posture which will enable the player to swing the club withprecision, and which will not present an awkward projection beyond the hand.

A further andimportant object is to provide a grip which will present equal security in handling the club to persons having different sizes and shapes of hands.

The principal features of the invention consist in the novel shaping of a flaring grip with substantially elliptical or ovate cross sectional shape andlongitudinaly curved surfaces arranged on one side in converging relation to the axis of the club shaftandon the other side in diverging relationship thereto, whereby a convexed longitudinal and transverse curvature is presented to the palm of the hand, and a transversely convexed and longitudinally concaved surface is presented to the inside surfaces of the gripping fingers.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a plan perspective view of a club constructed in accordance with this invention, taken in a position directly in front of the player, such as assumed in addressing the ball, and showing the position of the grip in the hand by designating the hand in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a detail plan of the grip showing the upper side face.

Figure 3 is a detail plan view showing the curvatures and shaping on the underside and ends of the grip.

Figure 4 is a top side plan of a slightly modified form of grip.

Figure 5 is a side plan of the grip shown in Figure 4, and Figure 6 is an underside plan of the grip shown in Figures 4 and 5.

In my previous Patent 1,967,999 of July 24, 1934, I disclosed a club, the grip of which was formed with a fiat area to be encompassed by the grip of the hand arranged at an angle converging upwardly toward the axis of the shaft at its upper end, which imparted to the grip of the club a very desirable feature, enabling much greater accuracy in handling the club than had hitherto been possible with other forms of grips.

The present invention is directed toward improvements based upon the principal feature of the aforesaid patent. These improvements are principally defined by the fact that the area converging outwardly toward the axis of the shaft at its upper end, is curved longitudinally as is illustrated particularly by the curved surface from the outer diameter of the shaft toward the 1 axis mayvary considerably.

With the club held .in position for addressing the ball as illustrated in Figure l, the position of the grip is' such that the curved surface I or 2 is toward the palm of the hand, and the width of the grip, that is, a plane substantially parallel to the curved surfacereferred to, is of a greater diameter than that of a plane at right angles to said surface, that is to say, the distance from the convexed surface I or 2 to the concaved surface 3 or 4 respectively, at any given point in the length of the grip, is less than the width across the club at right angles from these measurements.

As is shown in Figures 3, 4, and 6, the outer boundary edges of the transverse dimension of the grip are both convexed, the sides 5 in each instance being closer to the centre or axial line of the club shaft than the outer boundary line 6.

The deeper curve or deviation from the axial line of the boundary line 5 is desirable in order that this side of the grip may fit snugly down into the crease or recess formed at the juncture of the palm of the hand and the fingers when they are bent into a gripping position around the grip. When the hand is held in the gripping position referred to, the heel of the palm and the side of the little finger of the player adjacent to the body, slope at an acute angle outwardly from the axis of the club, and the end surface I of the grip is cut at such an angle, that is, in acute relation to the convexed curve I and 2, and also in acute relationship to the axis of the club shaft. The end I is of course covered by a rounded button 8 which conforms to the general contour of the end of the club grip and presents a smooth surface sloping outwardly in line with the slope of the hand. Thus there is no sharp projecting corner or angled end to the end of the grip which will catch upon the players clothing in swinging the club in play.

In the form of grip illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the wood plug, which fits in the end of the shaft, is shaped with a plurality of flat surfaces, the narrowest of these being that along the curved line 6 which fits into the crease between the palm and fingers. This narrow surface is preferably slightly concaved transversely so that it will give a distinct feel of an edge to the hands of the player even when it has been covered with leather.

In the form illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6, the

cross sectional shape is more elliptical, and grooves 9 and ID are preferably cut in the edges 5 and 6 so that when the leather is wrapped thereover there will be a sharp indication of an edge to be felt by the player.

A .grip formed in the manner described fits into the clenched hand of a player in conformance with the natural proportions of the hand, the narrow portion of the ovate cross-sectional shape fitting down into the finger crease, and curving longitudinally in conformance with the curve which extends from the index finger back to the little finger. So also the convexed curvature of the flat side face of the ovateshaped member conforms to the concaved curvature of the palm of the hand, with the ultimate result that a firm hand hold may be obtained upon this grip at any point in its length. The grip flares from the shaft end outwardly and the player having a small hand will naturally shift to a position where the right size of grip may be had. Whereas the player with a larger hand will shift more toward the butt end. In either case the axis of the ovate shape of the grip will be angularly disposed transversely of the hand to lead into the crease between the palm and the fingers, and a very secure grip of the golf club will thus be obtained which will be very restful and easy to accomplish, and to continuously repeat, that is to say, with such a grip it will be a very easy matter for a player to .grip the club at a uniformly accurate angle, and when such a condition is obtained the player will be assured of accuracy of holding and precision of use of the club.

What I claim as my invention is:-

1. A grip for golf clubs having one side thereof formed with a longitudinal convex curve to fit the hollow of the palm of a clenched hand, said curve converging at the upward end toward the axis of the club shaft and the opposite side being formed with a longitudinally concave curve away from the striking face side of the head to receive the fingers of the clenched hand,s.aid curve diverging from the axis of the club shaft and imparting a gradual outwardly curved flare enlarging toward the head end of the grip such flared portion to be encompassed by the'palm and fingers of the hand.

2. A grip for golf clubs having an ovate cross sectional shape flaring upwardly in a longitudinally curved form one side of which convexly curves upwardly and inwardly toward the axis of the club shaft and the opposite side curves upwardly in concave form and flares away from the convex side and from the striking face side of the head and away from the shaft axis to be encompassed by the hand of the player.

3. A golf club having a grip flaring upwardly and curved bodily laterally away from the striking face side of the club head and presenting a longitudinally convexed side to fit into the palm of the hand and a longitudinally concaved opposite side to receive the fingers, the cross sectional shape of said grip being ovoid and presenting a ridge positioned to fit snugly into the crease between the palm and fingers of the hand when clenched around the grip.

4. A grip for golf clubs as claimed in claim 1 in which the end extremity of the flared grip is inclined downwardly from the longitudinally convexed surface to the longitudinally concaved surface and at an acute angle to the shaft axis.

AV'ERN PARDOE. 

